Ex-BBC chief in North to head 'Prime Time' inquiry

A FORMER controller of BBC Northern Ireland is to lead an independent investigation into how RTÉ libelled Fr Kevin Reynolds.

Anna Carragher, who retired from the BBC in 2006, has been chosen by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's (BAI) compliance committee to examine part of the Prime Time Investigatesprogramme.

It is the first time such an independent investigation has been carried out under Section 53 of the Broadcasting Act (2009).

Ms Carragher will be given two months to examine the seven-minute programme segment that wrongly claimed Fr Reynolds had raped a minor and fathered a child by her while working as a missionary in Africa.

She will have to report to the compliance committee by February 9th. The committee will then make a recommendation to the authority itself, which has the power to fine RTÉ up to €250,000 if it concludes that the broadcaster was not fair, objective and impartial to Fr Reynolds.

The BAI has said it would be “inappropriate” for RTÉ to publish the findings of its internal review into its editorial procedures before Ms Carragher’s own investigation is concluded.

The review of its editorial procedures has been carried out by the Press Ombudsman, Prof John Horgan, and is due to be published after being presented to the RTÉ Authority at its monthly meeting next week.

Ms Carragher spent 36 years at the BBC and had considerable experience in working on news programmes including BBC Radio 4's Todayprogramme, Newsnightand Question Time.

She was controller of BBC Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2006.

The BAI has requested that RTÉ hand over material from its own internal inquiries into the programme.

An RTÉ spokesman confirmed that it would co-operate fully with Ms Carragher both in terms of handing over documents and making staff involved in the programme available for interview.

RTÉ has already covered much of the ground that is likely to be covered by Ms Carragher and the documentation is likely to make her task easier.

Oral interviews are scheduled for the week of January 16th, where those involved in the programme will be questioned about their roles.

Ms Carragher’s remit will include a review of the established RTÉ programme-making guidelines and how they were applied to the programme. It will also examine the validity of surreptitious recordings and “door-stepping”.

She will also consider the question of who signed off on the programme and the legal advice given to the programme makers in advance.

Her investigation will look at the scheduling pressures, staff resources and commercial considerations that went into making the programme, along with the programme budget.

She will not examine issues that arose following the broadcast, including RTÉ’s handling of the legal correspondence after the programme was broadcast.

Nor will she be including the case of a Christian Brother who was named in the programme. His family claims he was wrongly accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour with a pupil while working as a teacher in South Africa.

Ms Carragher will have power to compel witnesses to attend and to seek any documentation she needs.

A failure to comply with any of her requests could lead to a financial penalty being imposed on RTÉ.